The present invention relates to the provision of video based interfaces and multi-media interfaces and experiences for video based telecommunications platforms and, more specifically to various features, functions, and aspects of providing video oriented user interfaces, control and content delivery for a video messaging system.
If you head out anywhere in public today, you are certain to see someone hunched over a BLACKBERRY device, feverishly typing away on a miniature key board with their thumbs. What are they doing? They are one of the many people that are consumed in the email-age of our planet. And if you don't see such a sight, you are certain to see a handful of people busily chatting away on their cellular telephones, leaving messages are retrieving their voice mail. The evidence is certainly in—we live in a connected world.
What's next? Cellular technology is continually under construction. In the early 1980's, cellular technology was based on analog technology and was referred to as the analog mobile phone system (AMPS). As technology developed, digital systems were introduced including TMDA, CDMA and GSM system. The migration to digital technology opened up the cellular infrastructure to a wide range of additional features including email delivery, short messaging and the like. Advancements in technology have built on the digital cellular technology, thereby improving the bandwidth capacity and functionality of the cellular infrastructure. Today, the cellular infrastructure is rapidly migrating to the third generation wireless technology, otherwise termed as 3G, while others are already at work defining the fourth generation cellular technology. 3G technology takes another step in our electronic connectedness by increasing the bandwidth available, and thereby enabling the delivery of video information over the cellular network in a manner that somewhat user enjoyable. However, many complexities are present in actually developing and deploying user friendly, bandwidth efficient, reliable and user desired video based services over the wireless network. Even though bandwidth capacities are greatly increased, the transmission of video information can still be cumbersome.
In providing video messaging solutions over a 3G wireless network, an important issue is the provision of a useful, effective and bandwidth efficient user interface. Thus, there is a need in the art for a solution to provide state-of-the art user interfaces and video functionality that efficiently utilizes the bandwidth available in the cellular infrastructure. Such a solution should not only benefit the current cellular technology, but also be applicable for the efficient use of bandwidth in future migrations of cellular technology.
In addition, with the greatly increased capacities in bandwidth, the development and deployment of new, improved and novel user interfaces and service delivery can be realized. The easier, more convenient and functionally rich a product can be made, without hindering performance, the better the product will sell in the market. Thus, there is a need in the art for improved techniques for implementing user interfaces and service delivery over video enabled digital wireless networks.